PARIS: From sea turtles to birds and the gentle dugong, the Arabian Gulf’s diverse but fragile marine life is threatened by the bombs and oil of the war in the Middle East.
The ecosystem was already under pressure from climate change and maritime traffic before the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran at the end of February, leading to Tehran’s region-wide retaliation.
More than 300 incidents involving environmental risks — including attacks on oil tankers — have been recorded in the region since the conflict broke out, according to a March 10 report by the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a UK non-governmental organization.
The geography of the Gulf makes its ecosystem particularly vulnerable.
A semi-enclosed and shallow sea about 50 meters (165 feet) deep on average, it is connected to the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz. Its slow water renewal — every two to five years — limits the dispersion of oil or other pollutants.
